All avenues have failed. My friend & I cannot get tcp/ip multiplayer working. We've tried in windowed mode, we have the applications set for compatibility with Windows XP SP3, we have all necessary ports open.

The only thing that works is GameRanger. The only problem is BG2 comes as "BG2 Complete" on gog which auto-installs Throne of Bhaal while installing vanilla BG2.

GameRanger requires the exe file of the game to launch it, but it recognizes BGmain.exe as a Throne of Bhaal installation and will not SoA under any circumstances.

How can I work around this? My friend & I do not want to ruin the story by starting off in ToB.

Gameranger supports Throne of Bhaal.

I have the same problem. Any fixes? Thanks for the help!

If you and your friend are on LAN, you could try this;

http://www.gog.com/forum/baldurs_gate_series/baldurs_gate_how_to_connect_via_multiplayer/post6
(but get the updated version)

Note: But I am not sure if this works on Windows 8.